Radiata Stories : After Ridley's Death
by GwenSilverlake
Summary: caution : major spoilers includedIn the Human Path, the story ends when Jack leaves Radiata. Well, now it continues. This story tells what happened to Jack after leaving Radiata.


Sixteen-year-old Jack Russell was sprawled on his bed in his home in Solieu Village. His father's sword, the Arbitrator, was on the floor wrapped in cloth. Jack glanced at it and sighed. '_I'll never be worthy enough to use Dad's sword. I can never be the great knight he was,' _thought Jack.

There was a knock on the wooden door and Jack's elder sister, Adele, popped her head into the room. Ever since the death of their parents, Adele had taken care of Jack.

'Dinner's ready, Jack,' she said.

'I'm not hungry,' Jack snapped. 'Leave me alone. Quit acting the responsible sister and just leave me to my thoughts, okay?'

'You haven't eaten a thing since you got back from Radiata,' Adele frowned at her remaining family member. 'At least have some tea or something. You'll starve yourself to death.'

'Good,' Jack said. 'That way I can meet Ridley again.'

'Oh, Jack,' Adele said, exasperated. 'Is this what it's all about?'

Adele came into the room and seated herself on the edge of Jack's bed.

'Jack,' she began, 'you always did find it hard to accept change. This is just like when you found out Dad was gone. I've told you this before, Jack. There are just some things that you can't help and that you can't change - things that you just have to accept to continue to live on this world that we are blessed with. Ridley is never coming back, no matter how much you'd like her to. If she hadn't gone that way, she would have gone another. It was her destiny.'

'I don't believe in destiny or any of that blab Gawain was babbling about,' Jack snapped, and tears sprang to his eyes at the mention of Ridley. He wiped them away impatiently before his sister could see them. But she already did.

'I know Ridley was someone special to you Jack,' Adele continued, 'but so was Mom. And Dad. There's just no way they can come back to us Jack. We'll have to be patient, and wait for our own time to come. Then we'll see them again.'

'You don't understand!' Jack burst out. He stood up and paced the floor. 'I should have been there for her the entire time she went through that weird transpiritation phase thingy, I should have been there for her when she was possessed, I had the choice to follow her and make sure she was safe, and I THREW IT AWAY!!'

Jack kicked his drawer and shook his head. Adele got up and put her arm around him.

'You can't blame yourself for what happened,' Adele advised. 'What's done is done. There's no use crying over spilt milk anymore, Jack.'

'I'm NOT crying over spilt milk,' Jack said, tears in his eyes. 'I'm crying over the death of someone I cared about!'

'Enough, Jack,' Adele said sensibly. 'Don't be so hard on yourself. Now come and have some dinner.'

'Alright,' Jack agreed. 'I'm starving anyway.'

He trailed after his sister to the dining table. Adele had made a pot of vegetable soup and mashed potatoes.

The two siblings ate their meal in silence. Jack had felt a bit better after Adele's advice, but still felt guilty that he chose to abandon Ridley in her time of need.

When he had finished his meal, Jack went outside and sat down on an upturned bucket. He looked up at the stars that lit the night sky, and he missed Ridley more than ever. His mind wandered back to when he had killed Gawain. Gawain had never explained what had really happened to his father, Cairn Russell. Jack and Adele had always believed that Gawain was the person who had ended Cairn Russell's life, but the two siblings didn't have the all the details. When Jack had first encountered Gawain in Fort Helencia, Jack had felt angry, and intent on knowing the truth about what truly happened to his father. Gawain had never told Jack the truth about Cairn, and as he was the one of the only ones who knew about his father's demise, it seemed that Jack would never really know the mystery of how his father really died. The other person who seemed to know about Cairn's death was the light elf, Gil, Zane's assassin and right-hand-man. But Jack had killed Gil back when he had fought the Wind Dragon in Wind Valley.

Gawain's last words replayed themselves in Jack's mind. '_You have avenged your father's strength…let us leave it at that.' _

'_What did he mean?' _Jack asked himself. '_Did he mean he wasn't truly the one responsible for Dad's death? If so…I've done a terrible thing, killing an innocent man. He was the Captain's father, too. Gawain died before he heard me say that Ganz forgives him for not being a father to him'_

'_Jack.' _

Jack sat up, surprised. That voice had sounded so familiar, so welcoming to him. But yet, it _couldn't _be. That voice simply could not belong to the person he thought it belonged to.

It just wasn't possible. He looked wildly around for the source of the voice, but saw nothing unusual. _'Must be my imagination,' _Jack concluded. _'I'm so upset about Ridley that I'm hearing things.' _

'_Jack, it's me.' _

It was that voice again. Jack looked around him, and what he saw nearly made him fall down from his perch on the upturned bucket.

Ridley stood there, along with Gawain. The two of them were translucent. They were ghosts.

'Ridley? Gawain?' Jack said, confused. 'Are you – ghosts?'

'I guess you could say that,' Ridley replied. 'We came to ease a bit of that guilt of yours.'

'I ought to tell you what really happened to your father the day he died, Jack,' Gawain said. 'The Water Dragon appeared that day, and I suggested that we leave the place. But your father was brave, Jack. He wanted to slay the dragon, so that we could be safe. He did it all by himself, without any assistance from anyone else. But after slaying the Water Dragon, imbalance grew within him, and he became ill with the Algandars Disease. I…I left him there to die. If I had stayed to help him, perhaps he could have been saved but…that didn't happen now, did it? That guilt has stayed with me for a very long time.'

'Jack,' Ridley spoke. 'I want you to know…it isn't your fault – you know, what happened. You can't blame yourself for what happened to me. I won't let you.'

'But, Ridley,' Jack said. 'I had a choice, and I chose not to follow you. I was the worst friend to you.'

Ridley went over to Jack and put her translucent hand on Jack's. It was a strange feeling, the hand was solid but yet not solid, and it felt cold.

'I don't have much time left before I move on, Jack,' Ridley said gently. 'If you want to make me happy, then do it while I still have time here.'

'How long do you have?'

'Three days is all that was given to me to say proper farewells to the people I care about,' Ridley said quietly. 'I ought to go and visit my father as well.'

'That red-nose? Why?' Jack enquired. 'He got me and Ganz fired from the knights. He got the Rose Cochon disbanded.'

'Even so, he is my father,' Ridley said. 'He cared about me a little too much, and that was why he acted like that. He just wanted me to be safe, although he didn't let me have any say in his decisions. And, Jack, I met Cross, too.'

'Cross!' Jack burst out. 'He was the jerk who started everything. He was the one who sent those Blood Orcs. They nearly killed you if it hadn't been for Lord Nogueira's transpiritation-thingy.'

'I hate him too, Jack,' Ridley replied. 'We didn't start off very well, now did we? Now, let's make up for all the time we could have used to spend time together while I was still alive.'

'You can bet on that, Ridley!' Jack said, getting up from the bucket. 'Let's start. Do you want to…take a walk?'

'Where to?'

'To my favorite place ever since I was a kid.'

Holding hands, the two of them began to walk in the direction of Tria Village. Suddenly Jack stopped and he turned back to face Gawain.

'Gawain, there's something you didn't know before you died.'

'What's that, son of Cairn?'

'You said that you wanted me to tell Ganz that you're sorry you've never been a real father to him, right? Well, Ganz forgives you for that. He told me so.'

'Did he now?' said Gawain. 'Well, that has eased some of my guilt, knowing that my son forgives me. I should visit him, and spend some quality father-son time that we never had before. Thank you for telling me, Jack.'

Gawain began to slowly vanish as he waved Jack goodbye. Jack stayed to watch until Gawain could no longer be seen.

'Let's go, Ridley,' Jack said, and led the way.

It was quiet in Tria Village, for most of the farmers were now sound asleep. Jack turned left and the two soon found themselves in the Tria Lake area.

'Tria Lake,' Jack announced. He and Ridley moved to the edge and sat down there.

'I've never been here before,' Ridley admitted. 'It's beautiful.'

'When I was a kid,' Jack confided in her, 'Adele and I used to have a picnic and games here when we had nothing to do. I used to swim in the lake, too.'

'It must be fun, having the chance to enjoy life to the fullest,' said Ridley wistfully. 'I never had a proper childhood.'

She sighed sadly.

'I hated it when my father forced me to spend every waking moment studying for the knight entrance exams,' Ridley confessed. 'He never let me have any time to just have fun.'

'Bet he regrets that now,' said Jack.

'Jack,' Ridley began, 'what did happen after I left?'

'I managed to slay the Silver Dragon – the jerk of a dragon that killed you,' Jack said. 'After that, the Gold Dragon Castle started to collapse. I got you out of there quick and brought you to Lord Larks. I figured I'd let him explain the situation to your father, not me. Lord Larks listened and he believed me. He got some guards to put your body away until your father was released from house arrest. We had your funeral right after your dad found out about what happened to you. After the funeral, I packed my things and left Radiata for good. Too many memories, you know.'

'Hm,' Ridley said. 'What's important right now is that we spend time together.'

'I can agree with that,' Jack said with a grin.

It was the last day Ridley had to spend time with Jack. She had already visited her father, Lord Jasne.

It was sunset, and Ridley was fading more and more with each passing hour. They were at the Lake again, watching the sun set behind the hills.

'It's almost time,' Ridley said sadly. 'I can feel myself going…somewhere. But these last few days have been the best I've ever had. Thank you, Jack.'

'Ridley, I never told you before…but I…I…'

'Yes?'

'I…I l-l-love you,' Jack stuttered. 'I really and truly care about you. I totally regret that I didn't choose to follow you.'

'I forgive for that, Jack,' Ridley said firmly, and her hold on Jack's hand tightened. 'I honestly do. I love you too, Jack.'

Ridley was now fading faster and faster. Her time was almost up.

'Goodbye, Jack,' she said. 'I'll see you again someday.'

'No! Ridley! Can't you stay longer?'

'I already told you, there's nothing I can do about that. It's already the maximum time. Now, goodbye, Jack. I'll miss you. I'll always be watching you. And remember, I don't blame you. Not a bit. Until we meet again…'

And Ridley vanished completely, leaving Jack alone on the lake bed in the cold night air.


End file.
